If Barcelona didn’t make us feel old, Malaga did. We happened to be in this southern Spanish town, which is the second oldest city in Spain, for the Feria of Malaga.
It’s a weeklong festival, though several residents were unable to tell us what, exactly, the festival celebrates. Something to do with a patron saint seemed to be the general consensus. Basically, it’s used as an excuse to drink cartojal (a sweet white wine, not unlike Moscato) and dance all day, then take a siesta for 4 hours, before going to the fairgrounds to resume drinking and dancing until sunrise.
When we arrived at the fairgrounds at midnight, there were kids running around, playing. Like, little kids. Toddlers. We spent a day partaking in festivities, but there’s only so much day-drinking our bodies – and budget- could withstand.
So, we spent time taking in the sights, such as the old Roman amphitheater. Then, there was the Alcazabra- a Moorish fortress, which is lovely, but not as impressive as we would’ve found it if we hadn’t just been in Granada– and the Castillo de Gibralfaro- another castle/fortress.
Picasso was born in Malaga, a fact that town is proud of. A Picasso museum showcases a lot of the artist’s earlier works.
Taking advantage of free activities, we took ourselves on a self guided street art tour, which showcased the grittier, artsy side of Malaga.
While in Malaga, we stayed with a lovely lady named Maria, in the El Pado neighborhood, right near the beach. One day, we chilled out on the beach, which was a welcomed break from pounding our (itchy!) feet against the pavement. This was a great area for sampling the local favorite food- Aspeto. This is a skewer of sardines, cooked on a wood fire right on the beach.
The sardines are served whole (head and bones included) with only lime to flavor them (the lime also comes in handy when trying to remove the fishy smell from your fingers).
I was a little wary, but they were delicious! Flaky, and chargrilled and salty.
The moment that made us feel old, was when we took the 3:15am bus from the fairgrounds back to our apartment. The bus was full of babies and grandmothers. I’m not exaggerating. There was nearly no one else our age on the bus. Still, as we had hopes of actually seeing the city during daylight the following day, we rode along with the elderly and infants, knowing that we had enjoyed a unique experience in Malaga.
Beer of choice: Victoria